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><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-MISC"
>31.10. Miscellaneous Functions</A
></H1
><P
>   As always, there are some functions that just don't fit anywhere.
  </P
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQFREEMEM"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQfreemem</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Frees memory allocated by <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>libpq</SPAN
>.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>void PQfreemem(void *ptr);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      Frees memory allocated by <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>libpq</SPAN
>, particularly
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQescapeByteaConn</CODE
>,
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQescapeBytea</CODE
>,
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQunescapeBytea</CODE
>,
      and <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQnotifies</CODE
>.
      It is particularly important that this function, rather than
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>free()</CODE
>, be used on Microsoft Windows.  This is because
      allocating memory in a DLL and releasing it in the application works
      only if multithreaded/single-threaded, release/debug, and static/dynamic
      flags are the same for the DLL and the application.  On non-Microsoft
      Windows platforms, this function is the same as the standard library
      function <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>free()</CODE
>.
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQCONNINFOFREE"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQconninfoFree</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Frees the data structures allocated by
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQconndefaults</CODE
> or <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQconninfoParse</CODE
>.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>void PQconninfoFree(PQconninfoOption *connOptions);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      A simple <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQfreemem</CODE
> will not do for this, since
      the array contains references to subsidiary strings.
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQENCRYPTPASSWORD"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQencryptPassword</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Prepares the encrypted form of a <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> password.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>char * PQencryptPassword(const char *passwd, const char *user);</PRE
><P>
      This function is intended to be used by client applications that
      wish to send commands like <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>ALTER USER joe PASSWORD
      'pwd'</TT
>.  It is good practice not to send the original cleartext
      password in such a command, because it might be exposed in command
      logs, activity displays, and so on.  Instead, use this function to
      convert the password to encrypted form before it is sent.  The
      arguments are the cleartext password, and the SQL name of the user
      it is for.  The return value is a string allocated by
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>malloc</CODE
>, or <TT
CLASS="SYMBOL"
>NULL</TT
> if out of
      memory.  The caller can assume the string doesn't contain any
      special characters that would require escaping.  Use
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQfreemem</CODE
> to free the result when done with it.
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQMAKEEMPTYPGRESULT"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQmakeEmptyPGresult</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Constructs an empty <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
> object with the given status.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>PGresult *PQmakeEmptyPGresult(PGconn *conn, ExecStatusType status);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      This is <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>libpq</SPAN
>'s internal function to allocate and
      initialize an empty <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
> object.  This
      function returns <TT
CLASS="SYMBOL"
>NULL</TT
> if memory could not be allocated. It is
      exported because some applications find it useful to generate result
      objects (particularly objects with error status) themselves.  If
      <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>conn</TT
> is not null and <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>status</TT
>
      indicates an error, the current error message of the specified
      connection is copied into the <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
>.
      Also, if <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>conn</TT
> is not null, any event procedures
      registered in the connection are copied into the
      <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
>.  (They do not get
      <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PGEVT_RESULTCREATE</TT
> calls, but see
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQfireResultCreateEvents</CODE
>.)
      Note that <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQclear</CODE
> should eventually be called
      on the object, just as with a <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
>
      returned by <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>libpq</SPAN
> itself.
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQFIRERESULTCREATEEVENTS"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQfireResultCreateEvents</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Fires a <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PGEVT_RESULTCREATE</TT
> event (see <A
HREF="libpq-events.html"
>Section 31.12</A
>) for each event procedure registered in the
      <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
> object.  Returns non-zero for success,
      zero if any event procedure fails.

</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>int PQfireResultCreateEvents(PGconn *conn, PGresult *res);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      The <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>conn</TT
> argument is passed through to event procedures
      but not used directly.  It can be <TT
CLASS="SYMBOL"
>NULL</TT
> if the event
      procedures won't use it.
     </P
><P
>      Event procedures that have already received a
      <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PGEVT_RESULTCREATE</TT
> or <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PGEVT_RESULTCOPY</TT
> event
      for this object are not fired again.
     </P
><P
>      The main reason that this function is separate from
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQmakeEmptyPGResult</CODE
> is that it is often appropriate
      to create a <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
> and fill it with data
      before invoking the event procedures.
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQCOPYRESULT"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQcopyResult</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Makes a copy of a <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
> object.  The copy is
      not linked to the source result in any way and
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQclear</CODE
> must be called when the copy is no longer
      needed.  If the function fails, <TT
CLASS="SYMBOL"
>NULL</TT
> is returned.

</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>PGresult *PQcopyResult(const PGresult *src, int flags);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      This is not intended to make an exact copy.  The returned result is
      always put into <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PGRES_TUPLES_OK</TT
> status, and does not
      copy any error message in the source.  (It does copy the command status
      string, however.)  The <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>flags</TT
> argument determines
      what else is copied.  It is a bitwise OR of several flags.
      <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PG_COPYRES_ATTRS</TT
> specifies copying the source
      result's attributes (column definitions).
      <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PG_COPYRES_TUPLES</TT
> specifies copying the source
      result's tuples.  (This implies copying the attributes, too.)
      <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PG_COPYRES_NOTICEHOOKS</TT
> specifies
      copying the source result's notify hooks.
      <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PG_COPYRES_EVENTS</TT
> specifies copying the source
      result's events.  (But any instance data associated with the source
      is not copied.)
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQSETRESULTATTRS"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQsetResultAttrs</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Sets the attributes of a <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
> object.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>int PQsetResultAttrs(PGresult *res, int numAttributes, PGresAttDesc *attDescs);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      The provided <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>attDescs</TT
> are copied into the result.
      If the <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>attDescs</TT
> pointer is <TT
CLASS="SYMBOL"
>NULL</TT
> or
      <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>numAttributes</TT
> is less than one, the request is
      ignored and the function succeeds.  If <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>res</TT
>
      already contains attributes, the function will fail.  If the function
      fails, the return value is zero.  If the function succeeds, the return
      value is non-zero.
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQSETVALUE"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQsetvalue</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Sets a tuple field value of a <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
> object.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>int PQsetvalue(PGresult *res, int tup_num, int field_num, char *value, int len);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      The function will automatically grow the result's internal tuples array
      as needed.  However, the <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>tup_num</TT
> argument must be
      less than or equal to <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQntuples</CODE
>, meaning this
      function can only grow the tuples array one tuple at a time.  But any
      field of any existing tuple can be modified in any order.  If a value at
      <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>field_num</TT
> already exists, it will be overwritten.
      If <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>len</TT
> is -1 or
      <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>value</TT
> is <TT
CLASS="SYMBOL"
>NULL</TT
>, the field value
      will be set to an SQL null value.  The
      <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>value</TT
> is copied into the result's private storage,
      thus is no longer needed after the function
      returns.  If the function fails, the return value is zero.  If the
      function succeeds, the return value is non-zero.
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQRESULTALLOC"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQresultAlloc</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Allocate subsidiary storage for a <TT
CLASS="STRUCTNAME"
>PGresult</TT
> object.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>void *PQresultAlloc(PGresult *res, size_t nBytes);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      Any memory allocated with this function will be freed when
      <TT
CLASS="PARAMETER"
>res</TT
> is cleared.  If the function fails,
      the return value is <TT
CLASS="SYMBOL"
>NULL</TT
>.  The result is
      guaranteed to be adequately aligned for any type of data,
      just as for <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>malloc</CODE
>.
     </P
></DD
><DT
><A
NAME="LIBPQ-PQLIBVERSION"
></A
><CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQlibVersion</CODE
>
     </DT
><DD
><P
>      Return the version of <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>libpq</SPAN
> that is being used.
</P><PRE
CLASS="SYNOPSIS"
>int PQlibVersion(void);</PRE
><P>
     </P
><P
>      The result of this function can be used to determine, at
      run time, if specific functionality is available in the currently
      loaded version of libpq. The function can be used, for example,
      to determine which connection options are available for
      <CODE
CLASS="FUNCTION"
>PQconnectdb</CODE
> or if the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>hex</TT
> <TT
CLASS="TYPE"
>bytea</TT
>
      output added in PostgreSQL 9.0 is supported.
     </P
><P
>      The number is formed by converting the major, minor, and revision
      numbers into two-decimal-digit numbers and appending them together.
      For example, version 9.1 will be returned as 90100, and version
      9.1.2 will be returned as 90102 (leading zeroes are not shown).
     </P
><DIV
CLASS="NOTE"
><BLOCKQUOTE
CLASS="NOTE"
><P
><B
>Note: </B
>       This function appeared in <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> version 9.1, so
       it cannot be used to detect required functionality in earlier
       versions, since linking to it will create a link dependency
       on version 9.1.
      </P
></BLOCKQUOTE
></DIV
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